The Attractiveness of unconditional Love

 

When the “Sinners” Stop Coming Near

Luke 15:1-2

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’”

Luke opens chapter 15 with something astonishing, not the complaint of the religious leaders, but the behaviour of the so-called “sinners”.

They were drawing near.

The people rejected by society, morally suspect, religiously excluded, socially unsafe, were instinctively pulled toward Jesus. They wanted to be near Him. They wanted to hear Him. They felt safe enough to approach.

This detail matters far more than we often realise.

Sinners Felt Safe With Jesus

Jesus did not advertise Himself as “inclusive”. He did not issue statements, create programmes, or rebrand religion. And yet, the very people who had learned to keep their distance from religious spaces felt no need to do so with Him.

Why?

Because Jesus embodied unconditional welcome.

They knew they would not be managed, fixed, corrected, or humiliated at the door. They were not required to clean themselves up before being allowed close. They could simply come.

This was not accidental. It was revelatory.

Jesus as the Perfect Revelation of the Father

Jesus did not merely model a better way of doing religion, He revealed who God is.

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

So when Jesus receives sinners, eats with them, and allows them near, He is not suspending the Father’s standards. He is revealing the Father’s heart.

If Jesus is a perfect reflection of the Father, then the Father is not repelled by broken people, He is drawn to them. He said they were the very reason he came - "it is the sick that need a doctor"
(It's fascinating that sin was discribed as a sickness by Jesus and the early chuch, not an inherent condition from Adam! - I'll write more on this and Augustine's error of Romans 5:12 another time.

And this makes Luke 15:1-2 deeply uncomfortable for us.

A Disturbing Question for the Church

If the tax collectors and sinners drew near to Jesus, but today the marginalised, the ashamed, the struggling, and the “morally complicated” are often the least likely to enter churches, we should pause before blaming the culture.

It may be that something has gone wrong not with them, but with us.

What if their absence is not rebellion, but discernment? I've said for years that it's correct that some reject the "Fear-based" versions of the Gospel, for Fear has nothing to do with Love.... and it's the Goodness and Kindness of God that leads to a change of heart.

What if they sense that many church spaces no longer reflect the radical safety and welcome of Jesus?

The Pharisees’ Problem Was Not Doctrinal Error

Notice carefully what offends the Pharisees:

“This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

Not “this man denies holiness”.
Not “this man rejects Scripture”.
But “this man receives sinners”.

The word “receives” implies acceptance, friendship, shared table, shared humanity. Eating together was an act of communion and belonging.

Jesus did not change people before welcoming them.
He welcomed them...and transformation followed.

The Pharisees believed holiness created love.
Jesus revealed that love produces holiness. Holiness means "wholeness", "completeness", it's walking in Love, in the original design of our maker, in his image and likeness. Holiness is never compliance to a list of man-made rules and actions. To be Holy is to walk as God intended - in communion with the Father, Son and Spirit.

When Grace Is Absent, People Keep Their Distance

If our churches are places where:

• Acceptance is conditional

• Belonging must be earned

• Shame is subtly reinforced

• Fear is used as motivation

Then we should not be surprised when the broken stay away.

The tragedy is not that people are “far from God”.
The tragedy is that they may think, based on a flawed Gospel, that God is far from them.... when Jesus revealed exactly the opposite.

Luke 15 Begins With Nearness, Not Lostness

Before Jesus tells the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, Luke wants us to see something crucial:

The “lost” felt closer to God than the religious leaders did.

This should humble us.

It suggests that the true measure of faithfulness is not how well we guard moral boundaries, but whether people who believe they don’t belong feel safe enough to draw near.

A Mirror We Cannot Ignore

Luke 15:1-2 holds up a mirror to every generation of believers.

If Jesus reflects the Father perfectly, then unconditional acceptance is not a strategy, it is the nature of God. It is the Good News to all mankind.

And when the rejected stop coming near, it may be a sign that we are no longer reflecting Him clearly.

The Good News is that the remedy is simple, but costly:

Return to the Jesus who eats with sinners.
Return to the Father who runs toward prodigals.
Return to a love that does not wait for permission to embrace.

Because when God is truly on display, the broken always draw near.

Much Love